Talento de barrio Blu-ray features mediocre video and poor audio in this poor Blu-ray release
Edgar Dinero is an angry young man from the slums of Puerto Rico who gets tangled between the thug life of his neighborhood and the beat of his barrio. On that path Edgar encounters disruption among his crewmen while falling in love with an uptown girl, from whom he must conceal his ties with the violent barrio underworld. Edgar may run, but he can't hide from the corrupt cops and the full-blown turf war amongst his men. Soon enough Edgar is faced with two choices: die as the Boss of the underworld or live as the King of Reggaeton.
If you're like me, you probably took one look at the cover of Talento de Barrio and assumed
the title of the film is Daddy Yankee. After all, they plastered the name of the lead actor in bold
lettering across the top, leaving only a slim section of the bottom corner for the true title. For all
intents and purposes, the film probably should have been called "Daddy Yankee's Talento de Barrio",
given his immense popularity as a reggaeton artist in Latin America. Considering I'm not that
familiar with Latin hip-hop, the name Daddy Yankee means little to me, so I'm assuming his
involvement in the film won't influence the purchase decision for most American consumers.
Nevertheless, a brief look at the history of Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (Daddy Yankee) makes it
abundantly clear he's earned his designation as one of the most influential musical artists in Latin
society, and hopes to extend his reach beyond the welcoming arms of his current fan base. In that
regard, it's only natural to see the 32-year-old artist step in front of a camera and follow the path of
countless American hip-hop stars.
“It doesn’t matter how much we shine in the future, we’ll always carry the burden of a dark past.”
As a young man living in the Puerto Rican hood, Edgar Dinero (Raymond Ayala) garnered a
respectable following of lowlife thugs who depend on his influence over the local drug trade to
keep them employed. Despite the negative impact his business has over the public housing
project he considers his turf, Edgar rules the streets with compassion, honesty and respect,
showing zero tolerance for random acts of violence, but never willing to back down from a fight.
Throw in the occasional inconvenience of pesky local cops with the prevalence of gun violence
between rival gangs, and one could say Edgar lives a life of indulgence and danger. As attractive
as the wealth and power may seem to those around Edgar, he longs for the opportunity to make
a legitimate living away from the drugs and violence that plagued his youth. When an
opportunity arises with a local music producer he takes the high road and entrusts the drug trade
to his two closest assistants. All seems well at first, as his relationship with an uptown girl
blossoms into the beginning of a family, but he soon finds himself pulled into the trappings of his
prior life. As the saying goes, you can take the man out of the street, but you can't take the
street out of the man.
Simply put, Talento de Barrio fails to bring anything new
to the table aside from the Latin point of view. It's difficult not to draw comparisons between the
rags-to-riches story of 8 Mile or the equally violent Menace to Society, but
Talento de Barrio seems to believe it's alright to borrow from these films so long as they
change the setting. To a certain extent I can forgive the similarities and simply enjoy the Latin
offering in its own right, but I'd imagine most viewers won't be as forgiving.
Similarities
aside, the primary flaw that stands out in the plot department is the film's insistence on glossing
over key elements of the story. At one point in the film, a rival gang shows up with guns blazing
and murders everyone in sight. What instigated this action is seemingly unimportant to the plot,
yet it's viewed as the catalyst for Edgar's decision to change his path. Along a similar line, the
story never establishes the relationship between Edgar and random people that emerge around
him. For instance, a popular hip-hop star announces to the entire audience that he owes
everything to Edgar, but we have no idea how the two men are connected. Additionally, one of
Edgar's henchmen plays a large role in the conclusion of the film, but when we're first introduced
to him (following his release from jail), you never get the sense he's a trustworthy guy. I can't
imagine Edgar made it to a position of power by placing blind faith in unproven comrades, so the
lack of a compelling history damages the credibility of the film.
Digging into the acting,
I'd suggest you temper your expectations accordingly. I only possess a cursory knowledge of the
Spanish language, so judging the quality of the acting is a bit more difficult than usual. When
you remove the ability to tell if lines are delivered in a natural manner, you're forced to focus
more attention on body language and emotional displays to arrive at a conclusion regarding
performances that seem a bit spotty. Raymond Ayala fairs well in his role as Edgar, delivering a
performance that's both likeable and off-putting at the same time. Likewise, Maestro and Cesar
Farrait show promise as Edgar's lead henchmen, with one becoming the angel on Edgar's
shoulder, and the other playing the devil behind his back. Aside from those three actors, I can't
say I was overly impressed with anyone in the ensemble cast, which is a shame considering the
emotional weight of the plot and the volume of actors involved in the production.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 23Mbps), Talento de
Barrio suffers from limitations in the source material and some disappointing stylistic choices on
the part of the cinematography. When I refer to the style of the film, I'm mainly decrying the
intentional yellowing of the entire image, to give the film a dingy attribute. I can understand the
desire to paint the slums in a negative light, but for anyone who's visited Puerto Rico this simply
doesn't seem like an accurate representation of the environment. I'm convinced the
cinematography could have shown the poverty-stricken atmosphere while still retaining a sense of
normalcy in the visuals. The other source-related deficiency comes in the form of fine object detail,
which only shows fleeting moments of excellence between lengthy stretches of muddled quality.
The camerawork definitely falls within the amateur category, but properly focused shots should still
manage to consistently reveal fine textures on the surface of facial skin, which is simply not the
case here. Lastly, a primary weakness I'd attribute to the transfer is a shallow sense of depth in the
darker sequences, where contrast struggles to reveal gradual shade transitions. Part of the problem
is related to a lack of quality in the blackest of blacks, but even if the black levels were a little
deeper, I'd imagine the problem would remain.
As with any non-English language release, I prefer to listen to the audio track that contains the
original
dialog. In the case of Talento de Barrio, this meant my only option is a lossy 2.0 mix with
marginal proficiency. Listening to nuances of the track, there's a certain muffled quality to the
dialog or environmental effects, which became all the more apparent during moments when the
soundtrack comes thundering to the forefront. As expected from a 2-channel mix, every element is
firmly planted in the front soundstage with little side-to-side separation and uninspired range (for a
perfect example, listen to the pathetic pop of gun discharge during the territorial brawl of the
opening scene). I'd imagine this is the best we're going to get given the budgetary constraints the
sound crew had to work within, but it's too bad the other elements in the mix don't match the
robust nature of Daddy Yankee's studio recordings.
Interviews (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0): If you're fortunate enough to speak Spanish, there's a lengthy
collection of cast interviews included on the disc. Considering I don't speak Spanish and there are
no subtitles available, I have no idea whether this is a worthwhile supplement.
Offering a recommendation on Talento de Barrio is a sticky situation that will largely hinge
on the taste of each individual viewer. If you're able to appreciate a foreign production without
comparing it to superior Hollywood offerings in the same genre, I'd assume you'll find enough
entertainment value to warrant at least a rental. However, if you have a natural tendency to watch
every film with a critical attention to detail, and look for originality as partial criteria for your
enjoyment of a given production, I'd recommend you avoid Talento de Barrio and save
yourself the frustration.
Maya Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release of 'Talento de Barrio' won for Best Blu-ray Disc at the fifth annual Latino DVD Awards yesterday, held at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA. Similar to other awards hosted by Home Media Magazine, the winners ...
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